Massachusetts Vital Records 1841 to 1920

The Massachusetts Vital Records are a great resource. Births, marriages and deaths in Massachusetts from 1941 to 1920. are readily available on FamilySearch.org. FamilySearch.org usually include a scan of actual record, which is helpful as not all information is indexed.

Some people may not be aware that the records from 1916 to 1920 are not indexed. If you did a search, you will not have results from this era. But with a little work, you may still get good results. The scans of the images are mostly available. The records are in order by city or town and date. If you have an idea of the place and time of a record, you may get results.

Recently, I was looking for information on my wife’s second great grandmother, Marie Lavalle. I didn’t have much on her. I knew she lived in Southbridge and died between the 1910 and 1920 Federal Censuses. I started my search by leafing through the Southbridge death records. I found her on page 22 in the 1917 Southbridge death records. The record contained her parents’ names, birth date, death date, and burial location.

With the names of Marie’s parents, I was able to quickly find additional information. Her father, Cyril Lavallee, died in Southbridge in 1919. Coupled with the research of others, this was the information I needed to further my research.